Energy Drinks

With news that the FDA has sent warning letters to four companies that make drinks combining caffeine and alcohol, including the infamous Four Loko, a study about alcohol-free energy drinks just published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research came out at just the right time to get oodles of attention. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins University, looked at drinking habits of more than 1,000 fourth-year college students gleaned from face-to-face interviews and reported that: --51.

Our kids may be consuming more caffeine than we realize. A new study finds that 73% of children and young adults in the United States have caffeine in their systems on any given day. Over the last 10 years, the overall percentage of children and young adults aged 2 to 22 who ingest caffeine has stayed the same, but the way they get that caffeine has changed, according to a study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Among kids, soda consumption is down, and coffee consumption is up. In 2000, 62% of young caffeine consumers got their caffeine jolt through soda.

In the wake of an FDA report citing 5-Hour Energy drinks in 13 deaths during the last four years (as well as news of deaths linked to Monster and Rockstar energy drinks), Forbes posts answers to FAQs in "What you really need to know about 5-Hour Energy drink. " Among the questions: "What's in these drinks?" Forbes says there are 160 to an estimated 242 milligrams of caffeine in energy drinks such as Monster, Rockstar and 5-Hour Energy. But some of the problems tied to energy drinks are not due to the caffeine, Forbes says; rather, they are related to phenylalanine, a potentially toxic amino acid.

A homeless man who was shot point-blank in the head in Panorama City on Sunday during an argument over $50 has been declared brain dead, according to Los Angeles police. Hospital officials told homicide detectives that Carlos Sanchez Cruz, 31, was declared brain dead at 3 p.m. Monday. “It's sad that a dispute over $50 would lead to a man's death,” said LAPD Lt. Paul Vernon. “I hope the family can find some solace in knowing at least that we have the persons responsible in custody.” Cruz was placed on life support at Holy Cross Hospital following the shooting, which occurred at about 2:30 p.m. on the sidewalk near 9010 Tobias Avenue, police said.

Parents might start hearing more about Red Bull during pediatrician visits. Researchers at the University of Miami have reviewed the literature on energy drinks -- caffeinated beverages such as Red Bull, which sometimes also contain herbal supplements -- and their effects on children. It's no great surprise that they found that the products, many of which have three times the caffeine of a cola and some of which have five times more, might be quite harmful to kids. Their results were released by the journal Pediatrics on Monday.

The Food and Drug Administrationon Friday posted additional adverse event reports connecting two more energy drinks to 53 illnesses, five deaths and two chronic disabilities. The new information comes on the heels of an FDA announcement linking the extremely popular 5-Hour Energy shots to 92 sicknesses and 13 deaths. The latest reports do not prove that the drinks -- Monster Energy and Rockstar Energy -- caused the illnesses or deaths, but rather register the fact that a doctor, family member, or patient believes the product might have played a role.

I've always been intrigued by the energy-drink market -- and people's willingness to pay a premium for what's basically sweetened coffee. New York's attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, apparently has the same misgivings. He's investigating whether the $9-billion energy-drink industry is duping consumers with misstatements about the ingredients and health value of its products. Makers of the drinks, including PepsiCo and Monster Beverage Corp., say the pep potions boost energy with a mix of additives like B vitamins, taurine and ginseng.

WASHINGTON - They are all "veterans of the tobacco wars," as Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois put it. Over the years, they have sponsored legislation to ban smoking on airplanes, led efforts to remove depictions of tobacco use in films and successfully sued the tobacco industry for misleading the public about the dangers of smoking. And at a recent hearing, the trio of Democratic senators - Durbin, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut - grilled executives from an industry they said was selling an unhealthy product and an unsafe message to young people.

Doctors need to talk to their adolescent patients about energy drinks -- especially energy drinks that are mixed with alcohol -- to make sure they understand the risks from consuming them, the American Academy of Pediatrics says. “When mixed with alcohol, energy drinks present serious potential for harm and abuse,” the academy says in a report published Friday in its journal, Pediatrics in Review. For instance, the report sites a 2010 incident in which nine college students were hospitalized in Washington state after they drank a caffeinated alcoholic drink.

The FDA reported that high-caffeine 5-Hour Energy drinks have been cited in the deaths of 13 people in the last four years. An FDA spokeswoman said in an interview with Bloomberg News that the energy shot has been associated with 92 "adverse event" reports in that time, including 32 hospitalizations. The FDA is investigating the deaths. 5-Hour Energy, Monster and other energy drinks are being targeted by lawmakers seeking caffeine limits on the products. Regulators last month said drinks from Corona-based Monster have been cited in the deaths of five people in the last year, according to doctors' reports filed with the FDA. Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Living Essentials, which distributes 5-Hour Energy, said in a statement it “is unaware of any deaths proven to have been caused by the consumption of 5-Hour Energy.

The Los Angeles City Council is discussing whether to limit the number of energy drinks city employees can consume while on the job. Apparently too much energy in a public employee can be dangerous. Councilman Bernard C. Parks introduced a motion last year asking for a report on options to restrict the consumption of energy drinks by workers on duty. This followed news reports that the Food and Drug Administration was investigating allegations that five deaths were linked to adverse reactions to energy drinks.

If you're looking for a move that will get your butt "tight and right," this is it, says fitness expert Lacey Stone, who uses it on her Extreme Bootcamp app for iPhone and iPad. What it does The squat with a lateral kick works your glutes, quadriceps and hamstrings, and done quickly enough, it gets your heart rate up to torch calories too. What to do From a standing position with feet shoulder-width apart, lower into a squat, with your weight in your heels, making sure your knees don't extend past the tips of your shoes and your back isn't hunched over.

December 3, 2013 | By Karen Kaplan, This post has been corrected, as indicated below.

This is your heart on an energy drink, and it's contracting significantly faster than it was before you opened that can full of liquid stimulant. So says a team of cardiac radiologists who were concerned about adverse side effects from energy drinks, especially on heart function. Energy drinks like Red Bull, Monster, 5-Hour Energy and Rockstar are involved in tens of thousands of emergency room visits each year. In the U.S. alone, nearly 21,000 people went to E.R.s after consuming energy drinks in 2011, according to a 2013 report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

WASHINGTON - They are all "veterans of the tobacco wars," as Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois put it. Over the years, they have sponsored legislation to ban smoking on airplanes, led efforts to remove depictions of tobacco use in films and successfully sued the tobacco industry for misleading the public about the dangers of smoking. And at a recent hearing, the trio of Democratic senators - Durbin, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut - grilled executives from an industry they said was selling an unhealthy product and an unsafe message to young people.

San Francisco City Atty. Dennis Herrera has sued Monster Beverage Corp., accusing the company of pitching highly caffeinated drinks to minors as young as 6 years old. The lawsuit, filed Monday in San Francisco Superior Court, is the latest twist in a battle between Herrera and the Corona company about the caffeine content of Monster energy drinks and how the beverages are marketed. Herrera's move followed Monster's opening salvo April 29, when the company sued Herrera in federal court in Riverside, alleging that he was singling out the beverage maker and threatening to block sales of its drinks in their current form.

San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera is lashing back at Monster Beverage Corp. with his own lawsuit a week after being sued by the Corona energy drink maker. The root of the legal barbs: Herrera's attempts to curb caffeine content in Monster products and his efforts to limit the company's marketing overtures to children. On Monday, Herrera's office filed a complaint in San Francisco Superior Court and also accused Monster in a statement of pitching highly caffeinated drinks to minors as young as 6 years old. Herrera accused the company of flouting scientific findings that the elevated blood pressure, brain seizures and severe cardiac arrest linked to such products can cause “significant morbidity in adolescents.” The lawsuit comes amid a “months-long investigation” into Monster's marketing and sales practices, according to Herrera, who also said he had been “working with Monster in good faith to negotiate voluntary changes” when the company unexpectedly took the issue to court.

ENERGY DRINKS: Consumer Reports magazine released a study Thursday that finds 11 of the 27 top-selling energy drinks in the U.S. do not specify caffeine amounts, and of the 16 drinks that did list amounts, five had more caffeine per serving than listed -- by an average of more than 20%. The study follows news that federal regulators are investigating reports of five deaths that might be associated with Monster Energy drink. [Reuters] SCARY COCKTAILS: Celebrating Halloween the way adults do: with spooky drinks.

Despite such speedy-sounding names as Full Throttle, Amp and Rush, energy drinks pack a punch that is generally no stronger than coffee, according to Consumer Reports. A comparison of 12 popular energy drinks, published in Consumer Reports' September issue, found that the caffeine in 8 ounces of various brands ranged from 50 to 145 milligrams, though most were in the 75-to-80-milligram range.

Faced with increased regulatory and consumer pressure as well as a lawsuit, Monster Beverage Corp. went on the offensive to deflect accusations that its products offered more than just a liquid jolt. The Corona energy drink maker, responding Monday to the lawsuit, said there was "no medical or scientific evidence" to support a finding that its energy drinks contributed to a 14-year-old Maryland girl's death. The family of Anais Fournier accused Monster of negligence and wrongful death in a lawsuit filed in October.

Monster Beverage Corp. has its own take on what happened to Anais Fournier, the 14-year-old Maryland girl whose family blames her 2011 death on her consumption of Monster energy drinks. The Fourniers sued Monster in October, alleging negligence and wrongful death. On Monday, the Corona company lashed back, unveiling the findings of a group of medical experts that it hired to examine the girl's records. The physicians - including a cardiac pathologist, an emergency room physician, a coroner and a toxicologist - found “conclusively that there is no medical, scientific or factual evidence” to support claims that Monster energy drinks “contributed to, let alone was the cause” of Fournier's death, according to Daniel Callahan, a lawyer for the company.